Yarn handling apparatus



Dec. 13, 1955 R. BETHUNE, JR ET AL 2,726,505

YARN HANDLING APPARATUS Filed June 2, 1953 5 Sheets-Sheet 2 IN V EN TOR.

BY HOYT A. GREEN ATTORNEY GEORGE R. BETHUNE,JR.

Dec. 13, 1955 BETHUNE, JR" ET AL 2,726,505

YARN HANDLING APPARATUS Filed June 2, 1953 I v 3 Sheets-Sheet 5 I !l i I I l I I I 'l. Salt/155V;

FIG. 5

GEORGE R. BETHUNE,JR, y HOYT A. GREEN ATTORNEY United States Patent Ofiice 2,726,505 'Patented Dec. 13, 1955 -YARN HANDLING APPARATUS "George'Rl' Bethune; Jr., and Hoyt A. Green, Cartersville,

Ga.,;as signrs,' by'mesne' assignments, to The Goodyear Tire 8:5 Rubber- 'Gompany;'a'- corporation of=0hio Application June 2; 1953, Serial No. 359,092

' 3"Claims. -"(Cl.' '57- =-53) This invention relatesto an apparatus for-cabling yarn 'and-morespecifically to an improved system for handling yarn during mill operations.

In themanufacture of cable yarns and'the like, a great amount of manualla'bor is requiredin'handling the ply i yarn=spools and cable yarn spools between the various operations. .Someof the-manual operations not-only are necessarily time consumingbutalso-tediousand diflicult to perform. By eliminating'or reducing the severity of these operations, asubstantial increase in efficiency of the imill'operation' can be effected with the resulting" decrease in cost *of-the-yarns themselves -as-well as reduction of maintenance cost.

- In the. .usualtextile millioperations, the -ply yarnsfare Wound'on small spools-during the ply twistingFoperation which areloaded into push trucks. The trucks .then'are carted-to a 'spoolerfor-windinglargerspools of ply vyarn from the smaller spools...--After-the1larger :spool isfil-led 1 at the spooler,- thespools= are-again stackedin a push truck for transportation to the twister where thelarger: .spools are placed on the-fixed creeLof the cable twister. The

- ply yarns are-threadedfromthe creelinto the cabletwister 'for the cabling operation. Usually eachispool'on'thet creel contains approximately the same amount of -ply yarn so that all the" sp'ools arereplacedatthesametime. The

empty Or -partially empty spools are removed fromthe creel and thrown in a-push cartto be pushed back to-the spooler for reloading. The cycle is then repeatd. Ob-

viously, considerable-handling of the spools is required in this cycle of operations.

It -is therefore an objectoflthis invention-to; provide =anapparatus that reducesithe amount of-handling required, thus increasing the :efiiciency of operations.

4 Another objectof theinvention is to-providea system that is flexible inthat the various .operations may be carried on:independently with temporary storage areas available for the spools until needed.

A particular object of this invention is to provide an apparatus thatre'ducesmaintenancefand replacement costs.

A still furtherobject is-tmprovidea comparatively inexpensive and easily installed system.

Other objects and advantages of thisinventionwill- 'become apparent"hereinafter-as the-description thereof proceedsfthe novel-features, arrangements and'combi-nations being clearly pointed outin thespecification as well .as the claims appended.

In the drawings:

Fig. 1 is a front elevation of a portion of a cable twister;

Fig. 2 is a partial end elevation of Fig. 1;

Fig. 3 is a schematic front elevation of a cable twister;

Fig. 4 is an end elevation of a spooler; and

Fig. 5 is a schematic layout of a typical installation of the invention.

In Figs. 1 and 2 the reference numeral 1 refers generally to the well-known cable twister or doubler twister apparatus having two banks of twisting units disposed in back-to-back relationship. In place of the usual stationary creel-.mounted'above ithe cable twistenxthea; spools rofl-ply 'yarrr: 4 are supported I as: illustrated .upon .ztheirportabie creel S suspended abovesthe cable twisterjlb .apiv'otally mounted =rollers 6, preferably centeredwoveiztthe twister 5 capparatus-so as to s'erve aszthesupply creel-for'zboth banks of the double twister. The creel inrits-entiretyacomprises -severalsections positioned rover-the twister and: connected together, for example;,byrhook 8-registeri'ng'fin an-wopen- -zing on the bracket 9-.of the. adjacent section :of the ccreel. 10 \Theseetions' of the. creel iarer more maneuverableand adaptable -to :be used with apparatus which: are 10f various lengths so as to require a different .numberaof spindlesto supply the particular: apparatus.

.As bestseen-in Fig.2; the ply yarnszfor each position. on

T the 1 cable twister are fed from fthe.-supply spools--4zrsupported on the spindleszll-mountedon .the creelvS. .mAs .illustrate.d,--.the creel: sections contain twozbanks ofispindles =but the number of banksof-spindlesprovided will:depend -uponfthe-maximum number' of plyyarns required for any cable that maysbe twisted .onthe'machine. Thenumber ofsspindles in each-:bank corresponds .generally to -.the numberpofpspools'on the'doubler twister. :The ply;-yar ns from: the spools on the creel 1are-fed through the twister delivery rolls 2'12; 13-and '14 and =theypigtail; guide-15 --whiehagathers 'theaplyyarns together before :passing through the: traveler.16mounted oncthe ring-17xiofthe ring rail :18 =wherethey :are :cabled and collected a on- @the .spool'ras a-twisted cord. Itis to be-.-understood1thatFig;.2 uilllustrat'es the operation'iof one bank' of :twisting un-its r of the cable twister and. the operation fof theuopposite lzbankaisz similar.

"As. illustrated in'-Fig.".3,. :threessections are joined utoi'rgetheritdifOrni the creel for supporting the iSPOOlS of iply r'yarn forotherparticular cable"twister'illustrated. :The

number 'of sections required:maybe-varied accordingito the; number of twisting. units For stations. 0n-' the? twister. -;Thezsections*are. moved. into the positionover .the cable twister either .iridividuallyor. as auunitzand it hasibeen found that itrisnot necessaryzto lock the creel 'sections 40.:in' position on: the monorail .unlessdesired.; Preferably 1: the monorail is suspended; although it mayibesuppo'rted -from the floor; if desired; or -any other :typeaofconveying apparatus, such as a system of rails on the floor-rover 1 which the creel'sections move, may be' usedif desired.

"In'order toiload and unloadthe spindles of the creel sections; it a is "desirable to "provide a loading. stationiapart from 'thei-zcable twisters. It If the particular mill .operation requires a respooling-operation,-then this ioperationpro- "vides a Lvery :conveni'entz'and accessible position for loading ithe 'creel sections 1 preparatory to the cabling operation. .'rAlternatelm separate@portions .of the -waymay' be suitably adaptedto position thezcreel sectionswhile being loaded. andzunloa'ded.

."For thelpurposes of illustration inFig. 4 the numeral 10 5 represents aispool'eraof 'conventional construction :wherein --'small-lspools :19-"of'ply yarn are rewound onrlargerspools 1 20. .The'large spoolsfof' ply-yarn "20' are placed thenzon the empty spindles' of; the creel sections supportedon the 'm'ono'rail over the spoolerapparatus. Wheniithe large -=spools 20 are in place onit-he spindles ofrthe creel :section -'-above -"the 'spobler',= the=loaded -creetxsection is th'en moved over the monorail to a storage section of track or in position over a cable twister. The empty large spools 20 upon which the smaller spools are rewound remain on the spindles of the creel section after the cabling operation, from which position the creel sections are removed to the storage section or to position adjacent the spoolers. The empty or partially empty spools are then removed from the spindles as needed and placed in position on the spooler for rewinding and when full are replaced on the spindles of the creel section. The large spools usuallyremain on the spindles of the creel except when they are being rewound on the spooler.

In Fig. a typical layout of the apparatus previously described is schematically illustrated in which the spoolers are represented by the letter S and the cable twisters by the letter T. The monorail track 7 is represented by a broken line with substantial sections of track available for storage of the creel sections and indicated by the letters ST. The storage section is spaced from the twisters or spoolers and shown as a convenient place to store the creel sections which temporarily are not required at either the spoolers or the twisters. The monorail track as illustrated is positioned centrally above each twister and spooler so that each side of the creel sections is in a position to supply the opposed banks of heads of the machines. Switches are provided to permit the creel sections to be moved selectively over the monorail system from any position to any other position with a minimum amount of manipulation of the track system.

In the operation of the apparatus, the creel sections are positioned on the monorail over one of the spoolers S. As the large spools of ply yarn are filled by the spooling operation, they are placed on the spindles of the creel. When a filled spool of yarn is in place on all spindles of the creel section, the section is moved over the monorail to the storage section ST or positioned over a cable twister T if needed. In the cable twisting operation, the requisite number of creel sections are positioned over twister and the sections connected together to form the creel and prevent any of the creel sections from creeping during the cabling operation. The ply yarns are fed into the cabling units from the creel for operation of the apparatus in the usual manner. When the spools are emptied or substantially emptied of ply yarn, the creel sections are moved over monorail to the storage section until needed or directly to the spoolers for reloading of the spools and creel sections with full spools of ply yarn replace the removed sections over the cable twister.

While certain representative embodiments and details have been shown for the purpose of illustrating the invention, it will be apparent to those skilled in the art that various changes and modifications may be made therein without departing from the spirit or scope of the invention.

Having thus fully described our invention, what we claim and desire to secure by Letters Patent of the United States is:

1. In an apparatus for cabling yarn, the combination of a cable twister, a creel, a way and a loading station; said cable twister having a plurality of twisting units thereon for cabling ply yarn; said creel having at least two sections, each section comprising a framework, a plurality of spindles mounted on said framework and adapted to rotatably support yarn-carrying spools of ply yarn thereon, mounting means on the framework to engage said way for movement of the creel along said way, and means to link at least two sections together for simultaneous movement of said sections along said way, said sections cooperating to form said creel to supply ply yarns to all of said twisting units of said cable twister; said way extending between said cable twister and loading station to define a path over which said creel may be moved, a first portion of the way adjacent said cable twister where the ply yarns are fed directly from the spools on said creel into the twisting units of the cable twister, a second portion of the way removed from said cable twister whereon said creel may be stored until'needed, and a third portion of said way adjacent said loading station whereon said creel may be located for the placing of filled spools of ply yarn on the spindles of said creel; and said loading station including means for supplying filled spools of yarn for loading said creel.

2. In an apparatus for cabling yarn, the combination of a cable twister, a creel, a way and a loading station; said cable twister having a plurality of twisting units thereon for cabling ply yarn; said creel having at least two sections, each section comprising a framework, a plurality of spindles mounted on said framework and adapted to rotatably support yarn-carrying spools of ply yarn thereon, mounting means on the framework to engage said way for movement of the creel along said way, and means to link at least two sections together for simultaneous movement of said sections along said way, said sections cooperating to form said creel to supply ply yarns to all of said twisting units of said cable twister; said way comprising a mono-rail extending between said cable twister and loading station to define a path over which said creel may be moved, a first portion of the monorail mounted over said cable twister where the ply yarns are fed directly from the spools on said creel into the twisting units of the cable twister, a second portion of the mono-rail removed from said cable twister whereon said creel may be stored until needed, and a third portion of said mono-rail adjacent said loading station whereon said creel may be located for the placing of filled spools of ply yarn on the spindles of said creel; and said loading station including a spooler having a plurality of spooling units thereon for filling spools with ply yarn from which units the filled spools are transferred to the spindles on said creel positioned adjacent said loading station on said way.

3. In a system of cabling yarn, a cable twister having a plurality of ply twisting units, a plurality of spools of ply yarn supported on a creel, said creel having at least two sections, each section comprising a framework and a bank of substantially parallel spindles adapted to rotatably support a plurality of spools thereon, said creel sections cooperating to supply yarns to all of said twisting units on said cable twister; means to move said creel into operative position adjacent said cable twister, said means comprising a way providing a predetermined path of movement for said creel, a first portion of said way being adjacent said twister where the ply yarn is fed directly into the said twisting units of said cable twister from said creel when positioned on this portion of the way, the creel being mounted for movement along said way; a loading position adjacent a second portion of the way away from said twister; and a storage section on a third portion of said way to provide means for storing the creel sections until needed.

References Cited in the file of this patent UNITED STATES PATENTS 1,795,300 Evcichjevitz Mar. 10, 1931 2,259,079 Reiners Oct. 14, 1941 2,412,444 Daughdrill Dec. 10, 1946 FOREIGN PATENTS 10,080 Great Britain of 1886 

